As we wait for something to come of the 10-year deal between Microsoft and Nintendo, the Call of Duty team at Activision has today announced its strategy “going forward” is changing.

From here on out, the team will “no longer do back-to-back releases” of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The aim is to provide a truly “unique experience” in each entry and “drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental”.

Call of Duty has enjoyed long-standing success because of all of you, a passionate community that demands excellence and deserves nothing less. We also know that for some of you, the Franchise has not met your expectations fully. To be very clear, we know what you expect and rest assured we will deliver, and overdeliver, on those expectations as we move forward.

– We will no longer do back-to-back releases of Modern Warfare or Black Ops games. The reasons are many, but the main one is to ensure we provide an absolutely unique experience each and every year.

– We will drive innovation that is meaningful, not incremental. While we aren’t sharing those plans today, we look forward to doing so when the time is right.

This update on the series’ future follows negative fan reception to the latest outing Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which launched in November.

Although this change could potentially impact the development cycle going forward, the Call of Duty team believes the future of the series is still “very strong”. It also notes how it’s already working on the “next era of Call of Duty”, which it promises will deliver “precisely” what fans want, and some surprises to move the franchise “and the genre” forward.

Microsoft entered a 10-year commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms in 2022, with the deal made legally binding in 2023. This followed with Microsoft being given the all-clear on the Activision Blizzard acquisition in the same year.

More recently, Call of Duty job listings have popped up online seeking talent with Nintendo Switch experience.